Machines for rectifying the faces of the end holes of vehicle plate springs



June 14, 1960 v. VETTORI MACHINES FOR RECTIFYING THE FACES OF THE END HOLES OF VEHICLE PLATE SPRINGS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 10. 1957 Vicente Veflori INVENTOR AGENT.

June 14, 1960 940,223

v. VETTORI MACHINES FOR TIFYING THE FACES OF THE END HOLES VEHICLE PLATE SPRINGS Filed D86. 10, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Viceme Verrori Fl G .5 INVENTOR.

AG ENT.

June 14, 1960 v. VETTORI 2,940,223

LACHINES FOR RECTIFYING THE FACES OF THE END HOLES OF VEHICLE PLATE SPRINGS Filed Dec. 10, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 fjll/////////////(///// ////1 [ll 1 :l a I 1' l1 l 3 6 25 45 as 23a 46 38 24a FIG? Vicenle VeH'ori INVENTOR.

AGENT.

Patented June 14, 1960 MACHINES FOR RECTIFYING THE FACES OF THE END HOLES OF VEHICLE PLATE SPRINGS Vicente Vettori, Travesso Tiberio 8, Sao Paulo, Brazil Filed Dec. 10, 1957, Ser. No. 701,861

Claims priority, application Brazil Ian. 9, 1957 8 Claims. (Cl. 51-114) The present invention relates to improvements in machines provided for rectifying faces of the end holes of plate springs and more particularly vehicle-plate springs.

Machines of this type are usually provided with two aligned electric motors slidably mounted on rails and adjusted laterally by means of a common device. The plate spring to be machined rests on an adjustable feed support and has lateral play at the front end of the support so as to be moved by means of a lever between the two grinding wheels driven by the motors. The fixing device for securing the workpiece is laterally displaceable by a hand crank in order to center the plate spring between the two wheels.

It is an object of the present invention to improve a machine of the above general type with a view to obtaining a more rational assembly as well as a more economical and easy operation of the machine.

According to one of the main features of this invention, the motors have been placed below the driven shafts and provided with belt pulleys which drive the grinding-wheel shafts. These shafts are slidable in their longitudinal direction by means of a common control device acting one main spindle. 7

Another feature of the new machine is that the plate spring feed table is mounted atop an articulated frame, means being provided for regulating surface contact, limiting the swing of the frame, and limiting the free lateral displacement of the feed table and the hand-actuated lateral displacement of the spring-clamping device.

The above and further objects, advantages and features of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the rectifying machine with some parts shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same machine, similarly with partial sections;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line llilll of Fig. 4 is another section taken along line lV-lV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the machine, with some parts broken away, taken along line V-V of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a top view, partly sectional, of the feed table forming part of the rectifying machine; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along line Vii-Vii of Fig. 6.

The improved machine has two electric motors 1, 2 arranged in the lower part of a frame 3 (Figs. 2, 5); the upper pulleys 5 are driven by V-belt$ 4. As can best be seen in Figs. 1 and 5, the pulleys are telescopically displaceable on fluted shafts 6 having extensions 7 inside the machine. These extensions bear on roller bearings 8 and carry, on their opposite inner ends, grinding wheels 9. The bearings are lodged within housings 10 supported by guide members 11 movable along rails 12.

The outward ends of members 11 have lower coupling flanges 13 provided with bores threadedly engaging a main spindle 14. The latter carries a bevel gear 15 coupled to another gear 16 which is actuated by means of hand wheel 17. The portions of main spindle 14 traversing the flanges 13 are threaded inversely; consequently the actuation of hand wheel 17, depending on the sense of rotation, will simultaneously move both grinding wheels 9 toward or away from a central transverse plane, that is into or out of engagement with the workpiece.

Adjacent one end of the main spindle 14 a shorter lead screw 18 is provided, rotatable by a hand wheel 19. Lead screw 18 has a stop member attached thereto, with an extension 21 protruding through a slot 21a of the framework so as to act as an index. The flange 13 on the side of the main spindle 14 to which the lead screw 18 is adjacent has an aperture through which the lead screw passes (Fig. 4). Since member 20 is attached to lead screw 18 more inwardlyfrom where the latter passes through flange 13, the grinding depth, that is the inward stroke of the system 1317, may be predetermined with the aid of the hand wheel 19. The stop member 20 will thus limit the inward movement of coupling flange 13 against which it abuts.

In a central base extension 22 of the frame 3 are pivoted two spaced-apart upstanding arms 23, 24 which carry the feed table 25; these elements thus form a parallelogrammatic linkage. A hand lever 26 acting on intermediate arms 27, 28 controls the swing of the parallelogram for advancing the table 25 and the workpiece toward the grinding wheels. 7

Ann 24, which is closer to the machine frame 3, is traversed by a horizontal threaded shaft 29 fixed to said frame; a knob is provided at the free end of shaft 29 while an adjustable threaded stop wheel 31 is displaceable along shaft 29 between the arm 24 and the frame 3.

Above the arm 24 closer to the grinding wheels, the feed table has a workpiece holder 32 laterally movable by means of hand wheel 33. The holder comprises two jaws 34 which can be adjusted simultaneously in inverse directions by means of hand wheel 35.

Each of the arms 23, 24 terminates at its top (as best seen in Fig. 3) in a pair of spaced-apart lugs traversed by a shaft 23a, 24a, respectively. Shaft 23a passes through a block 46 secured to the table 25 by means of screws 46a. Shaft 24a in turn traverses a projection 38. Two resilient rods or springs 36 are secured, by suitable means not shown, to the block 46 and the projection 38. Approximately midway along its length, table 25 has attached to it a block 43 by means of a screw 48a. The springs 36 also abut the block 48, thus tending to maintain the table 25 in a centered position with respect to arm 24 and projection 38.

The rear end of table 25 has a transversal support 39 for the workpiece, secured between lateral arms 40. One of the arms has an enlarged section 41 provided with an arcuate slot 42 through which passes a fixing screw 43 attached to the table.

When a plate spring 44 to be rectified is placed on the feed table 25, as shown in Fig. 2, its front end rests against a forward stop 47 and is secured by jaws 34 of the holder 32 while the rear end of the spring bears on the transversal support 39. The latter can be adjusted to the proper height, in accordance with, the sprin curvature, by means of the assembly 40-43. An advance of the table 25 toward the grinding wheels 9 will cause a lateral shift of the workpiece, and also of the table, if the forward end of the workpiece is not exactly symmetrical with respect to the grinding wheels. The lateral movement of the table is limited by means of screws 37 bearing upon projection 38, a little clearance being provided in order automatically to compensate small differences in alignment. The extent of the workpiece shift can be limited by the adjustment of screws 37.

Upon switching on the motors 1,1, the grinding wheels 9 may be put into contact with the faces of the front-end hole 45 of the plate spring 44 by turninghand wheel 17., the stop member 29 predetermining the maximum displacement of the grinding wheels as adjusted beforehand by hand wheel 19.

Lever 26 is used to advance the table 25, together with the workpiece, toward'thei grinding Wheels. This motion is limited by the relative adjustment of abutment knobf3il and wheel 31.

With the improved machine, the rectifying process may be'easily' and quickly performed, the reciprocation or the table being accomplished with a minimum of effort on the part of the operator. The several described means 'of adjustment allow workpieces having considerable range of shapes and dimensions to be rectified.

' Although the invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment, it will be apparent that various modifications, readily understood by persons skilled in the art, are to be included within its spirit and scope except as further limited in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A machine for simultaneously rectifying opposite faces of a workpiece, comprising a support, a pair of coaxial pulleys spacedly positioned on said support,

stationary bearing means for said pulleys on said support,

threaded portions, a first coupling element threadedly engaging one of said portions and operatively connected with oneof said shafts, a second vcoupling element threadedly engaging the other of said portions and operatively connected with the. other of said shafts, and control means a for rotating said spindle.

each .of said pulleys being provided with an elongated hub journaled in said bearing means, a pair of coaxial shafts each telescopically engaging the'hub of a respective pulley, said .hubs and said shafts being complementarily profiled for rotary entrainment of said shafts by said pulleys, a pair of grinding wheels symmetrically positioned opposite each other on adjacent ends of said shafts,

3. A machine according to'claim 2, further comprising zablitmentfsncansf displaceably; positioned in the path of one coupling elementsifo'r limiting the'motiement of saidgrinding wheels toward said transverse plane.

4. A machine according to claim 3 wherein said 'abutment comprises a second spindle parallel to the first-mentioned spindle, a stop element threadedly engag ing said second spindle, and operating means for rotating said second spindle. j

5. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said feed means comprises a base, a pair of upstanding arms pivotally mounted parallel to each other on said base, the pivots of said arms being spaced apart within said transverse plane, a table supported by said arms, a horizontal mount for said table forming a parallelogrammatic linlo age with said arms and said base, and clamping means on said table engageable with a workpiece.

6. A machine according'to claim 5 wherein said clamping means is positioned substantially above the arm closer to said grinding wheels, further comprising adjustable supporting means for said workpiece on said table sub stantially above the more remote one of said arms.

7 7. A machine according to claim '5 wherein said mount includes resilient means connecting said'table to said. arms with freedom of limited lateral motion.

8. A machine according to claimS, further comprising swing-limiting means for said linkage including athreaded References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Behle -.f Oct. 24, 1933 Hartley et al. Mar. 21, 1950 

